Trump administration ends directive that public schools let transgender students use bathrooms of choice

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration on Wednesday scraped guidelines telling public schools to let transgender students use the bathrooms and locker rooms matching their gender identities — reversing an Obama administration directive and dealing a major blow to transgender rights.

The move eliminates a hotly contested May 2016 directive from Obama officials that public schools should allow students to use the bathrooms of their choice, based on a determination that the Title IX federal law banning gender discrimination also applied to gender identity. Those that didn't could have risked federal funding.

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That guidance was never truly implemented, as an August court ruling temporarily stayed its implementation until a lawsuit from 13 states against it could be resolved.

The Trump administration's decision to scrap the move seems to go against what Trump himself declared during the campaign.

Trump said last April that North Carolina was paying a "big price" for its law that banned municipalities from allowing transgender individuals to use public bathrooms, and suggested it was a dumb law.

"There have been very few complaints the way it is. People go. They use the bathroom that they feel is appropriate," Trump said on NBC's "Today" show.

The move goes against what President Trump had declared on the campaign trail, when he suggested North Carolina's restrictive bathroom laws were dumb. (Elaine Thompson/AP)

"There has been so little trouble. And the problem with what happened in North Carolina is the strife and the economic — I mean, the economic punishment that they're taking."

But it's in line with Trump's other moves to cozy up to religious conservatives throughout his campaign and presidency — and comes ahead of a Supreme Court case slotted for March involving a transgender teenager who was denied bathroom access in Virginia.

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer argued that whether schools allow transgender people to use the bathrooms that match their gender should be a "states' rights" issue, while downplaying the import of the move.

"It's not a priority. There's a case pending in the Supreme Court in which we have to decide whether or not to continue to issue guidance to the court. It's dictated by that," he said Wednesday. "It's incumbent on us to actually follow the law and to recognize that Title IX never actually talked about this."

The decision reportedly caused major friction within the administration. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos opposed it, disagreeing with Attorney General Jeff Sessions, and had to be pressed to support the decision by Trump himself, according to the New York Times.

"This is an issue best solved at the state and local level," DeVos said. "Schools, communities and families can find - and in many cases have found - solutions that protect all students."

In a letter to the nation's schools, the Justice and Education departments said the earlier guidance "has given rise to significant litigation regarding school restrooms and locker rooms."

Anti-bullying safeguards would not be affected by the change, according to the letter.

"All schools must ensure that all students, including LGBT students, are able to learn and thrive in a safe environment," it said.

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The plan lines up with Trump's other moves to win over religious conservatives throughout his campaign and presidency. (Olivier Douliery / POOL/EPA)

LGBTQ advocates decried the move.

"What could possibly motivate a blind and cruel attack on young children like this?" Human Rights Campaign President Chad Griffin said in a statement. "These transgender students simply want to go to school in the morning without fear of discrimination or harassment. The consequences of this decision will no doubt be heartbreaking. This isn't a 'states' rights' issue, it's a civil rights issue."

Transgender students in New York won't lose any protections, according to state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.

I will do whatever it takes to protect transgender and all LGBTQ New Yorkers, no matter what happens in Washington," Schneiderman said in a statement. "That's why my office will ensure that Title IX and New York's own civil rights protections are enforced -- because policies that ensure equality also promote safe and inclusive schools, workplaces, and communities, benefiting everyone."